Such sole support plates have been known for a long time in many various embodiments. They consist for expense reasons almost exclusively of a plastic material, wherein the area on which the sole of the ski boot rests consists in most cases of a material having a low frictional resistance characteristic. In this manner, the release force is not increased additionally and in an undesired manner through friction which is produced between the ski boot and the sole support plate. Rather a reduction of the frictional forces is achieved.
Fastening of conventional sole support plates occurs mostly by means of screws, which often simultaneously extend through the base plate, bottom plate or the like of the ski binding part, to which they belong. Such a type of fastening is disadvantageous for two reasons. First of all, the fastening screws are exposed to icing up and to dirt, which results in their possible necessary release to encounter difficulties. Since the sole support plates which consist of a plastic material are generally exposed to a greater wear than the base plates, bottom plates or the like of the ski binding part, which plates consist of metal, the screws which also hold the ski binding parts must be released, if a damaged sole support plate must be exchanged. This in turn has the danger of the fastening screws for the ski binding part becoming loose. If, however, the sole support plate is fixed with separate screws on the upper side of the ski, the body of the ski is weakened in an undesired manner by the provision of additional screws.
According to Austrian Pat. No. 327 760 a sole support plate, consisting of a support member which can be fastened on the upper side of the ski, with sliding strips which are mounted on its upper side is known, wherein the sliding strips and the support member can engage one another by means of a recess and by means of a correspondingly shaped holding element. It is furthermore known according to Austrian Pat. No. 315 701 to secure the sole support plate sunk in a recess of the support member, wherein in-running sides of the sole support plate are constructed with a slope.
A sole support plate of the above-mentioned type has become known through products which can be obtained on the market. In this conventional construction the sole support plate is moved on over a guide rail in the direction of the ski binding, wherein said guide rail corresponds approximately with the length of the sole support plate and carries the offset part in its end zone which is remote from the ski binding, with which offset part a counter-notched part of the sole support plate can engage. It is disadvantageous that the rail extends with the sole support plate starting from the ski binding in direction of the other ski binding part because it increases the entire length of the ski binding. Such an embodiment is disadvantageous in view of the reinforcement of the ski. A further disadvantage of the conventional sole support mechanism lies in that the engagement between the rail and the sole support plate is due to the small construction, so that a small impact on the sole support plate can result in an undesired separation of the same from the rail. An arbitrary separation of the sole support plate can be performed by means of a screw driver; the easier it is to carry out the detaching procedure, the easier it is for an arbitrary separation, as was described above, to occur. A detaching procedure which is difficult to perform, however, can in turn result in damage (tear formation) to the sole support plate. This known solution has been published also in print in the instructions for use, which are associated with the product.
The purpose of the invention is now to aid and to design a sole support plate of the above-mentioned type such that it holds securely in a condition of use thereof, the detaching procedure can be performed easily and the guideways of the ski binding part for the base plate, bottom plate or the like do not take on undesired long dimensions.
The set purpose is inventively attained by the offset part being provided on the free end of a tonguelike locking part which extends longitudinally of the ski and away from the base plate, bottom plate or the like into the direction which is remote from the ski binding part, wherein a cavity is provided on or rather in the bottom surface of the recess in the sole support plate. In this manner, it is possible to partly directly mount the sole support plate onto the base plate, bottom plate or the like of the ski binding part and to lock it thereon, without requiring the use of separate guideways. In this manner, it is possible to build the ski binding together with the sole support plate in a compact manner. The locking connection between the receiving point and the locking part practically eliminates an undesired release of the sole support plate from the base plate, bottom plate or the like. In spite of this, a voluntary release of the sole support plate can be performed without any problems.
A particularly preferable embodiment of the invention consists in the cavity having therein a step which cooperates with a step of the offset part of the locking part and which prevents an automatic release of the sole support plate from the bottom plate or the like, wherein the free end of the offset part lies in the same plane as the underside of the locking part. This type of locking delivers on the one hand a secure connection between the sole support plate and the base plate, bottom plate or the like of the ski binding part, which serves as a mounting therefor, wherein the locking is sufficient also in the case of a relatively small overlapping of the two steps. This in turn results in the sole support plate being, if needed, able to be released in a simple manner from the base plate, bottom plate or the like.
A further characteristic of the invention consists in the provision of a recess for receiving a suitable tool therein, for example a screwdriver. The recess is provided approximately in the center area of a side edge of the sole support plate, through which recess the end of the sole support plate remote from the ski binding part can be tilted and through this, the engagement between the step of the cavity and the step of the locking part can be cancelled. In this manner the release of the sole support plate from the base plate, bottom plate or the like is particularly simple.
For a better support of the sole support plate on the base plate, bottom plate or the like, it is furthermore inventively provided that the base plate, bottom plate or the like has elevations which are constructed as projections on its side which faces the upper side of the ski and in the area where it is fastened in a conventional manner by means of screws on the ski, and that the sole support plate has two holding tabs, each of which is located between one of the projections and the locking part. The sole support plate is constructed supportingly on the structural parts of the base plate, bottom plate or the like.
The sole support plate which has been described thus far has proven to be successful in practice, however, it has a disadvantage insofar as the attachment or detachment procedure is concerned, in particular the latter, in that it can be performed only with a relatively large force. Such a procedure is without any disadvantage worth mentioning during the attaching procedure of individual ski bindings, however, in the case of a mounting in mass production, as it occurs in the trade in this field, a repeated generation of a large force is undesired. The invention has now the purpose to also produce in this respect a perfect solution.
This further purpose is inventively attained by the step of the cavity being determined by a connecting part, which bridges an extension of the bottom plate recess and thus is constructed elastically flexible in an elevational direction.
Through the inventive measure the connecting part which determines the step of the cavity is elastically flexible in an elevational direction, so that said part can give way insignificantly during an attaching or detaching procedure, which causes the force input which is necessary for this operation to be substantially reduced compared with the known solution.